WEBVTT MISCONDUCT AT THE STATE CAPITAL.LINDA HALDERMAN SAYS THEUNWANTED HUGS BEGAN IN 2011, THEDAY SHE MET ROBERT HERTZBERG YET-- AT A TRAINING FOR RICKYLEGISLATORS.>> HE HELD ME IN A VERY LONG,CLOSE, LONG HUG WHICH I THOUGHTWAS VERY STRANGE AND WE WERESUCH -- IN SUCH A PROFESSIONALENVIRONMENT.DANA: SHE SAYS THE HUGSCONTINUED FOR ABOUT TWO MONTHSWHEN SHE ASKED HIM TO STOP.>> I SAID I AM NOT A HUGGER.I AM NOT COMFORTABLE THESE KINDSOF HUGS.HE GRABBED ME ANYWAY.HE THEN PRESSED MY LOWER BODYWITH HIS GROIN WITH THE BACK OFHIS HAND -- THE FRONT OF HISHAND PUSHED AGAINST THE SMALL OFMY BACK.DANA: SHE COMPLAINED BUT THEREWAS NO MORE UNWANTED CONTACTAFTER THE COMPLAINT.HERTZBERG SAYS HE HAS THENICKNAME HUGGY BEAR AND HAS THEREPUTATION OF BEING EFFECTIVE --AFFECTIONATE.HIS HUGS WERE ONCE A SCAVENGERHUNT ITEM.SENATOR HERTZBERG SAYS, ALL OFMY LIFE, I HAVE GREETED MYFRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES WITH AHUG.MY INTENTION HAS ONLY BEEN TOFOSTER A WARM, HUMAN CONNECTION.I WILL CHANGE HOW I GREET PEOPLEMOVING FORWARD.ALDERMAN SAYS THE APOLOGY ISN'TENOUGH.>> I DON'T BELIEVE HE INTENDED AWARM, FRIENDLY HUG WHEN HESHOVED HIS GROIN AGAINST ME.I THINK AN INVESTIGATION ISMANDATORY IF THE ASSEMBLY ISSERIOUS AND THE SENATE ISSERIOUS THAT IT TAKES HARASSMENTAS A ZERO-TOLERANCE THING.I DON'T THINK THIS SHOULD BESWEPT UNDER THE RUG BECAUSEFRANKLY THIS IS ONLY THE TIP OFTHE ICEBERG.DANA: THERE ARE REPORTS OF OTHERANONYMOUS LEGISLATORS WHO HAVEEXPERIENCED UNCOMFORTABLE HUGSFROM HERTZBERG.HIS OFFICE STANDS BY THESENATORS STATEMENT THAT HE NEVERINTENDED TO MAKE ANYONE FEEL

In the latest sexual harassment case to shake up the California State Capitol, the state Senate ordered Sen. Bob Hertzberg to stop hugging co-workers after an investigation found that the veteran lawmaker engaged in several instances of unwanted hugging and touching of lawmakers and legislative employees.

The Senate released a report Thursday that showed that among the incidents investigators substantiated was a complaint from a male sergeant at arms who said that in 2016 Hertzberg backed into him and was “grinding” against him in a manner that was unwelcome and “offensive” to the employee.

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But in another high-profile complaint by former Assemblywoman Linda Halderman, the investigators found that he hugged the lawmaker once in 2010 and did not find evidence to back her allegations that he repeatedly embraced her after she asked him not to. Investigators said Halderman, a Republican from Fresno, declined to be interviewed. The report makes no mention of her most serious allegation — that Hertzberg pinned her arms and pushed his groin into her during one unwanted hug in the Capitol hallway eight years ago.

In the written reprimand, the Senate Rules Committee told Hertzberg, a Democrat from Van Nuys, outright that he can “not initiate hugs” because he had previously been warned that this behavior was, at times, unwelcome. Further incidents could result in “more severe discipline,” the warning said.

“You cannot solve the problem by asking someone if a hug is unwelcome or welcome because a person may not feel comfortable telling you it is unwelcome,” stated the reprimand letter from the Rules Committee, which acts as the human resources arm of the Senate.

AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File

In this Aug. 31, 2017 file photo, State Sen. Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, hugs Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, D-San Diego, after his storm water bill was approved by the Assembly in Sacramento, Calif.

Hertzberg is a former Assembly speaker who was elected to the Senate in 2014. He is well known at the state Capitol for indiscriminately giving bear hugs, prompting the nickname “Huggy Bear.”

“I understand that I cannot control how a hug is received, and that not everyone has the ability to speak up about unwelcome behavior,” Hertzberg said in a statement. “It is my responsibility to be mindful of this.”

The four instances investigators substantiated, according to the report released Thursday, were:

• In 2010, Hertzberg “likely hugged” Halderman on one occasion “and likely hugged others on that day, as was his practice. The hug made her uncomfortable.”

• In 2015, Hertzberg hugged a female senator in a manner that made her uncomfortable, but did not continue when she asked him to stop.

• In 2015, Hertzberg hugged an assemblywoman in a way that made her uncomfortable on more than one occasion, but “he was not aware that the hugs were unwelcome.”

• In 2016, Hertzberg “danced briefly with his backside against a male Sergeant at Arms in a manner that was unwanted and made the Sergeant uncomfortable.”

Investigators found several aggravating factors, primarily that Hertzberg had been previously warned by Senate leadership that his hugging and touching made others uncomfortable. In a 2015 case, the Senate warned Hertzberg that the “behavior should not be repeated,” according to documents released in February.

Hertzberg did not heed that warning, according to the report released Thursday.

“He should have taken this information more seriously,” investigators wrote. “Instead, he missed opportunities to understand that some people were genuinely troubled by his hugging.”

Investigators also pointed to a series of mitigating factors in his favor, including that they did not find his behavior to be sexually motivated in any of the instances. Investigators also said Hertzberg seemed “genuinely remorseful” and that many witnesses described his hugs as “friendly, warm and welcoming.”

But Halderman, in a text to The San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday, said: “It would be best for everyone if, in the future, Bob Hertzberg kept his creepy hands to himself.” She declined to comment further.

The investigation into Hertzberg is among 14 cases that the Legislature has been probing in the wake of the #MeToo movement, which emerged at the Capitol in November when hundreds of women signed a letter saying sexual harassment and abuse are pervasive in Sacramento politics. Three lawmakers have resigned amid scandals: Sen. Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia (Los Angeles County), Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra, D-San Fernando Valley, and Assemblyman Matthew Dababneh, D-Encino (Los Angeles County). All three have denied wrongdoing.

Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens (Los Angeles County), took a voluntary unpaid leave as the Assembly investigates allegations of groping and sexual harassment against her. She denies the allegations.

Investigators substantiated allegations against Mendoza and Bocanegra. An Assembly spokesman said he could not comment on whether the investigation into Dababneh is ongoing despite his resignation.

The reprimand of Hertzberg stands in sharp contrast to its planned expulsion of Mendoza.

Mendoza resigned on the day the Senate planned to vote on whether to expel him. The investigation into allegations against Mendoza found he “more likely than not” engaged in unwanted sexual advances toward six women, including interns in his office. None of the women alleged that they’d had a sexual relationship with Mendoza or said he had been physically aggressive or sexually crude toward them, investigators said.

Mendoza filed a lawsuit against the Senate last month, in which he said in part that he was discriminated against when he was stripped of his committee post and forced to take a paid leave while “another Senator, who is Caucasian,” a reference to Hertzberg, was not.

Hertzberg did not lose any of his committee posts and was not asked to take a leave of absence during the investigation, which was completed Feb. 20. Hertzberg is chair of the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.

Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, explained the difference in how the cases were handled by saying the allegations against Mendoza and other lawmakers came from subordinates while those against Hertzberg came from his peers. In the sergeant at arms case, Hertzberg does not oversee his employment.